Tagged Amita Trasi

First line: “The memory of that moment hit me like a surging ocean wave—drawing me into it—the sour smell of darkness, those sobs erupting like an echo from a bottomless pit.”

Mukta was born to a devdasis, a temple prostitute, in her Indian village of Ganipur. Tradition held that as a female off-spring, she too would become a devdasis. Her mother, however, wanted nothing more than to break the evil cycle and free her daughter from this life of daily horror.

Tara was born to upper caste Brahmins from the same village. Because their parents didn’t approve of the marriage, Tara’s parents were forced to elope, fleeing their village to live in Mumbai. But Tara was still afforded all the benefits of her upper caste heritage: an education, a nice home, plenty to eat.

When Mukta’s mother dies at the hands of the villagers, Tara’s father takes Mukta away to Mumbai. He has helped many homeless orphans so Tara thinks nothing of Mukta coming to stay with them. But Mukta stays longer than the other children. Tara’s mother teaches her to clean the house, cook and escort Tara to school. In short, she treats her like a servant. But Tara teaches Mukta to read, she befriends her and the girls grow close. Until a bomb in the bazaar blows their contented life into a million pieces.

The Color of Our Sky is the story of these two young Indian girls whose families came from the same village. Told in their alternating first person voices from the mid-1980s to 2008, it’s heartbreaking and hopeful, unthinkable and uplifting. Amita Trasi’s story canvas shines brilliantly with the colors of her rich characters, the power of her themes, her beautiful setting and optimism. The dark strokes of evil, hate, greed and desperation also add to the magnetism.

I finished The Color of Our Sky reminded of each human’s extraordinary value. Race, gender, caste or class, age, sexual orientation, none of it makes us better or worse than someone else. Those are simply traits that fate drops in our laps. We don’t control those things. Our compassion, empathy, generosity and kindness are the true measures of a good human being. We have the power to change these things, and how we choose to wield that power tells the world all it needs to know.

The Color of Our Sky is far from a light beach read, but since we all still have time before the summer season really hits us—at least here in the U.S. anyway—there’s plenty of opportunity to luxuriate in the depth and breadth of this incredible debut from Amita Trasi.